Residents of a Brixton block of flats have accused their housing association of “gross negligence” over a noisy water pump which stopped them from sleeping.
The noise got so bad that tenants at Elderton House, Hicken Road, Brixton Hill were forced to call the fire brigade on Tuesday morning to break in and turn off the pump after they “feared for their safety”.
They say that despite reporting a loud noise to landlords L & Q more than two weeks ago, nothing had been done and housing officers had told them they “didn’t have the key” to access the pump room.
After a fire crew broke into the room and switched off the pump, tenants were without mains water until 5pm on Tuesday.
Resident Michael Burke said: “The noise was originally reported two weeks ago and nothing was done. The last few days it was so bad that we and our neighbours could not use one of our bedrooms, we both have kids!”
He added: “We found notes on the pump dated September 2009, which I seized. It looks like it has not been maintained since then. The words gross negligence spring to mind.”
A spokesperson for L and Q apologised to Elderton House residents. She said: “We sent out a contractor on Monday to inspect the pumps but they were unable get into the pump room. We arranged for the contractor to come back the next day but by then the residents had already called the fire brigade.
“We have now temporarily fixed the pump and are waiting for additional parts to arrive to complete the repair.”
